ESPN Deportes Radio and MRN Radio are teaming to launchSpanish-language NASCAR programming this week.
The yet-to-be-named two-minute segment will air daily on ESPNDeportes Radio stations in 18 U.S. markets, plus Sirius Satellite Radio, andwill represent the network’s first NASCAR programming. ESPN Deportes Radioplans an announcement today.
“This is a big endeavor for us,” said Oscar Ramos, ESPNDeportes Radio general manager. “We’re reaching out to a base of fans thathasn’t been spoken to from this sport.”
ESPN Deportes Radio also will carry live Nextel Cup updatesfrom the 28 races where MRN owns the rights, including all of the InternationalSpeedway Corp. tracks, as well as Dover, Pocono and New Hampshire. The liverace updates will include the 2007 Busch Series race in Mexico City.
The daily two-minute updates will air during ESPN DeportesRadio’s 8 a.m. “SportsCenter.” The network’s motorsports reporter, AndrésAgulla, will serve as the show’s host.
“It’s not a lot of actual minutes, but there will be quite abit of frequency and it will be on a network with strong listenership,” Ramossaid. “It will reach the casual fan and the stronger fan.”
ESPN Deportes Radio, which launched in October 2005, hasstations in 11 of the top 25 markets in the U.S., it said, and it also streamscontinuously on ESPNDeportes.com. The network’s content mostly is talk radiowith an emphasis on soccer and baseball, including the World Series, which isbeing broadcast on the net in Spanish.
ESPN Deportes Radio’s flagship station in Los Angeles,KWKW-AM, during the spring period ranked No. 1 in the market for AM and FMstations in the category of time spent listening.
Additionally, ESPN’s NextelCup TV rights kick in next season and run through 2014.
“We’ve got an audience that is hungry for more than justsoccer,” said Traug Keller, senior vice president at ESPN Deportes. “ESPN has acommitment with NASCAR and we see this as a smart way to grow our business.Nine percent of NASCAR’s fans are Hispanic, and NASCAR clearly has tractionwith this fan base.”
MRN will provide Agulla access at the track to its facilitiesand also distribute the shows to the ESPN Deportes Radio network. MRN’s liveradio rights will give ESPN Deportes Radio the opportunity to report from 28 ofthe 36 Nextel Cup races.
Terms of the multiyear agreement between MRN and ESPN DeportesRadio were not disclosed.
“This is something we’vebeen pursuing, obviously, because of the demographic we’re trying to reach inthe growing Hispanic market,” MRN President David Hyatt said.
Agulla’s reports through the week will range from news andnotes to features with an emphasis on keeping it introductory enough to appealto new fans.
